No, we didn't mean that. . . Hungry respins default comment

BUDAPEST, Hungary â Hungary's government on Saturday tried to calm investors and distanced itself from earlier comments by officials claiming that the country was close to defaulting on its debts.

State Secretary Mihaly Varga, a former finance minister, described talk of a default "exaggerated ... and unfortunate," adding that the new, center-right government of the Fidesz party was committed to the 2010 budget deficit of 3.8 percent of GDP set by the previous administration even if "immediate and urgent" steps were needed to achieve it.

"The situation is consolidated and the planned budget deficit can be met," Varga said, adding that declarations putting Hungary in the same group as Greece or other countries struggling with huge deficits "do not give a credible view of Hungary's status."